Textile sliver coiler including means for varying the throw of sliver



y 2, 1967 J. R. WHITEHURST 3,316,598

TEXTILE SLIVER COILER INCLUDING MEANS FOR VARYING THE THROW OF SLIVER Filed July 21, 1966 INVENTOR: Joe 12. WH\TE:-HL.I2$T

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ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,316 59$ TEXTILE SLIVER @OILEIE INCLUDING MEANS FOR VARYING THE TUW 0F SLIVER Joe R. Whitehurst, Bessemer City, N.., assignor to Ideal Industries, Inc, Bessemer City, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed .luly 21, 1966, Ser. No. 566,871 4 Claims. (Cl. 119-159) This invention relates to a textile sliver coiler including means for varying the throw of sliver and, more particularly, to a textile sliver coiler of the type wherein a pair of calender rolls are mounted on the coil forming memfber of the coiler for rotation therewith and wherein means are provided for facilitating the packaging of various types of sliver, by varying the throw of sliver.

While a variety of types of textile sliver coilers are known and have heretofore been used, the principle of operation of these coilers issubstantially similar in that sliver is advanced through a sliver delivery opening in a coil forming member while being formed into successive coils within a receptacle, and a precessional movement for the successive coils is obtained so as to lay the sliver in a predetermined convoluted path. During the packaging of sliver, the linear speed of advance or feed of the sliver through the opening is coordinated to the rotational speed of the coil forming member so that a slight draft, known as a tension draft, is maintained on the sliver. This tension draft results from the linear speed of the sliver delivery location from the coil forming member being higher than the linear speed of advance of the sliver.

When varying types of textile sliver are packaged by coilers in accordance with known practices, it has been found that the particular convolute paths employed must vary in order to accommodate differences in the textile sliver. In particular, slivers require varying tension drafts in order to obtain optimum uniformity, as reflected by minimal variation in measurements of sliver non-uniformity taken before and after coiling. As tension draft is dependent in part upon the linear speed of the sliver delivery location from the coil forming member, and that speed is determined by the rotational speed of the coil forming member and the circumference of the circle traversed by the delivery location, the draft may be varied by changing one of the last named factors. Further, slivers of fiber which are easily compacted and which do not naturally expand upon release from compacting forces may be formed into coils of larger diameter than slivers which easily open up and more readily become matted with adjacent coils.

Heretofore, variation in tension draft of sliver being coiled has primarily been obtained through change gears which permit varying the rotational speed of the coil forming member. In using such change gears, a limitation is imposed on the change which may be made, in that the minimum variation is a step-wise change of one gear tooth. Such a step-wise variation frequently makes the achievement of optimum operation under any condition impossible. Similarly, accommodation of coiling of sliver into coils of different diameter has only been obtainable by replacing the coil forming member of a textile sliver coiler, inasmuch as the distance between the axis about which that member rotates and the sliver delivery location, which determines the diameter of the coils into which the sliver is formed, has not been readily variable except by such substitution.

With the aforementioned difiiculties in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for readily varying the distance between the axis of rotation of a coil forming member in a textile sliver coiler and the location of delivery of sliver from a pair of calender rolls mounted on that member for rotation therewith, so that the diameter of.the coils into which sliver is formed 3,316,598 Patented May 2, 1967 may be varied to accommodate the types of sliver.

A more detailed object of this invention is to provide, in a textile sliver coiler having a coil forming member and a pair of elongate calender rolls mounted on the coil forming member for rotation, a trumpet member for determining the path of sliver travel into the calender rolls and the location of sliver delivery therefrom and means supporting the trumpet member for adjustable movement to vary the location of sliver delivery, so that adjustment to facilitate the packaging the various types of textile sliver may readily be accomplished.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated others will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanypackaging of varying ing drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a textile sliver coiler incorporating the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic plan view illustrating certain diametrical relationships relating to the operation of the coiler of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a portion of the coiler of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a section view through the coiler portion of FIGURE 3, taken substantially along the line 4-4 in that figure;

FIGURE 5 is a section view through the coiler portion of FIGURE 3, taken substantially along the line 55 in that figure, and

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of an alternate construction for a coiler portion similar to that illustrated in FIG.- URE 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, a textile sliver coiler in accordance with this invention is there shown (FIGURE 1) and generally indicated at 10. AS illustrated, the coiler 10 includes a base 11 which supports a rotatable can table 12, a standard 14, and a coiler head 15, supported by the standard 14 to overlie the can table 12. The coiler head 15 is of the type known as a flattop coiler, and includes a coil forming member or coiler plate 16 (FIGURES 4 and 5) which is supported for rotation and has a pair of elongate calender rolls 1-8, 19 mounted thereon for rotation therewith and overlying an elongate sliver delivery opening 20 in the lower surface thereof.

In the packaging of textile sliver by the sliver coiler 10 into a receptacle (such as the sliver can 21 shown in phantom lines in FIGURE 1), the sliver is deposited into the receptacle along a predetermined convolute path. The convolute path results from the cooperation of a sliver advancing means, a coil forming member which forms the sliver into coils, and some means which precesses the location of successive coils. Precession of successive coils is obtained either through the rotation of the receptacle with the can table 12 on which it is supported, or through precession of the coil forming member 16, as is done in a planetary coiler. It is comprehended that the invention here disclosed may be used with sliver coilers of varying types, including both can table and planetary coilers, so long as a coil forming member which carries a pair of calender rolls such as the rolls 18, 19 is employed, for reasons which will become more apparent hereinafter.

In the coiling of sliver by the sliver coiler 10, the pair of calender rolls 18, 19 cooperate with the coil forming member 16 to advance sliver S through the sliver delivery opening 20 while forming the sliver S into coils having a diameter determined by the distance between the axis X about which the coil forming member 16 rotates and the location of delivery of sliver on the calender rolls through the opening 20. In FIGURE 2, two sets of broken lines are used to indicate circular paths of movement of elements resulting in the desired convolute paths for the sliver S in packaging the same. More particularly, the pair of calender rolls 18, 19 are shown, and the interrupted lines 22, 23 illustrate the respective paths of movement of portions of the calender rolls 18, 19 about the axis X during the formation of the sliver into coils. The outer circle, defined by the broken line 22, results from a greater distance between the axis X and the location of a point between the pair of calender rolls.

As may readily be understood, delivery of sliver through a pair of calender rolls 1 8, 19, at the locations resulting in description of the circles 22, 23 will result in forming the sliver passing through the rolls into coils of different diameters, inasmuch as the throw of the coil forming member 16 is effectively varied. This will accommodate the packaging of slivers having varying characteristics, as described above, and also will permit accommodation of varying sizes of receptacles when a single type of sliver is being packaged.

As to accommodating varying types of slivers, it is seen that the circumference of the circle 22 is greater than that of the circle 23, providing a variation in a heretofore unaffected factor in the determination of tension draft when the rotational speed of the coiling member 16 is maintanied constant. Thus, a relatively coarse adjustment of tension draft by change gears is acceptable where a careful adjustment to a final value is realized from variation in the throw of sliver. Further, the variation in throw permits ready adaptation of the coiler to varying diameters of coils to avoid matting and marrying of sliver, through the use of both change gear and throw variations.

The accommodation of varying can sizes may be more readily understood with reference to the broken line circles indicated at 24 and 25 in FIGURE 2, which may be taken to represent sliver receptacles or cans of different diameters. As there shown, the smaller diameter receptacle 25 is substantially tangent with the smaller coil diameter 23, while the larger diameter receptacle 24 is substantially tangent with the larger coil diameter .as indicated at 22. Thus, where the sliver being coiled may be accommodated in coils substantially tangent with the receptacle wall, the throw of the coiler 10 may be so varied as to permit coiling into receptacles of different sizes by varying the location of delivery of sliver from the calender rolls 18 and 19.

The location of delivery of sliver from the calender rolls 18, 19 is determined by a sliver guide means, which is in turn supported by a mounting means which permits adjustment of sliver guide means along the length of the elongate calender rolls 18 and 19. More particularly, the boiler head 15 further includes a cover member 26 mounted on the coil forming member 16 for rotation therewith, as by means of studs 28 fixed to the coil forming member 16, and overlying the moving elements of the coiler head 15.

Mounted on the cover member 26 for adjustable movement relative thereto, and overlying the calender rolls 18, 19, is a plate member 29 (FIGURES 3-5), and supported on the plate member 29 is the sliver guide means in the form of a trumpet member 30 which determines the path of travel of the sliver S to the calender rolls 18, 19 and thus the location of sliver delivery therefrom. The plate member 29 is secured to the cover member 26 by a pair of bolts 31 penetrating a pair of elongate slots in the cover member 26 and limiting the adjustable movement of the plate member 29 to movement along a straight line immediately overlying the nip of the pair of calender rolls 1 8 and 19. As will be readily apparent, movement of the plate member 29 will traverse the trumpet member 30 along the nip of the pair of calender rolls 18, 19 (as to the phantom line position in FIGURE 4), thus varying the location of sliver delivery from the calender rolls 18, 19 and through the sliver delivery opening 20.

As illustrated in the drawing, the calender rolls 18, 19 are so positioned that the nip therebetween lies along a straight line extending substantially through the axis X about which the coil forming member 16 rotates. Thus, this straight line is related to the circular paths 22, 23 as a radial line, and the movement of the trumpet member 30 as the plate member 29 is adjusted is radial movement.

While this is preferred, it is to be understood that this invention comprehends that the nip between the calender rolls 18, 19 may lie along a line which is a chord of a circle such as the circles 22, 23, so long as the movement of trumpet 30 by adjustment of the plate member 29 does effect a variation in the distance between the axis X and the location of sliver delivery from the calender rolls 18, 19.

' A modified form of the sliver coiler 10 is illustrated in FIGURE 6, wherein an adjustable plate member 29', carrying a trumpet member 30', overlies a pair of calender rolls 18 and 19' (in phantom lines). In this alternative embodiment, the plate member 29' is pivotally attached to the cover member 26, for pivotal movement which traverses the trumpet member 30' substantially along the nip of the pair of calender rolls 18, 19. In all other respects, a sliver coiler incorporating the pivotally mounted plate member 29 is substantially identical to that described heretofore.

In the drawing and specification there have been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A textile sliver coiler comprising:

a coil forming member supported for rotation about a predetermined axis and having a sliver deli-very opening therein,

a pair of elongate calender rolls mounted on the coil forming member for rotation therewith about said axis and with the nip thereof closely overlying said opening so that said rolls advance sliver therethrough,

sliver guide means closely overlying the nip of said rolls for determining the path of sliver travel thereinto, and

means for varying the throw of the sliver and thus the diameter of the coiling thereof comprising means for adjusting said sliver guide means to vary the location of sliver entry along the nip of said rolls and into and through said opening therebelow.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said coiler further comprises a cover member overlying said coil forming member and mounted thereon and wherein said means for adjusting said sliver guide means is a plate member adjustably mounted on said cover member and said sliver guide means is a trumpet member fixed on said plate member.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the nip of said pair of calender rolls lies along a straight line passing through said axis and said plate member is mounted on the cover member for linear adjusting movement along said straight line.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein the nip of said pair of calender rolls lies along a straight line passing through said axis and said plate member is mounted on the cover member for pivotal movement to traverse said trumpet member substantially along said straight line.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,695,429 11/1954 Howes et al. 19-159 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,173 1850 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

I. C. WADDEY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TEXTILE SLIVER COILER COMPRISING: A COIL FORMING MEMBER SUPPORTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT A PREDETERMINED AXIS AND HAVING A SLIVER DELIVERY OPENING THEREIN, A PAIR OF ELONGATE CALENDAR ROLLS MOUNTED ON THE COIL FORMING MEMBER FOR ROTATION THEREWITH ABOUT SAID AXIS AND WITH THE NIP THEREOF CLOSELY OVERLYING SAID OPENING SO THAT SAID ROLLS ADVANCE SLIVER THERETHROUGH, SLIVER GUIDE MEANS CLOSELY OVERLYING THE NIP OF SAID ROLLS FOR DETERMINING THE PATH OF SLIVER TRAVEL THEREINTO, AND MEANS FOR VARYING THE THROW OF THE SLIVER AND THUS THE DIAMETER OF THE COILING THEREOF COMPRISING MEANS FOR ADJUSTING SAID SLIVER GUIDE MEANS TO VARY THE LOCATION OF SLIVER ENTRY ALONG THE NIP OF SAID ROLLS AND INTO AND THROUGH SAID OPENING THEREBELOW. 